This beautiful outdoor micro-library can pop up anywhere

Libraries are often monolithic buildings filled with extensive collections.

But a new outdoor micro-library in the Philippines, called the Book Stop, is the exact opposite. Constantly changing books and locations, it seeks to reinvent the traditional library.

By planting the pop-up library outside in different urban parks, its creators, WTA Architecture and Design Studio, hope to make public libraries more relevant for the 21st century. The project was also nominated for a 2016 World Architecture Award.

The Book Stop is a portable pop-up shop, meaning it can move and open up anywhere. Open from April 23 to May 7, 2016, the first one launched in an urban park in Makati, Philippines.

WTA Architecture and Design Studio

2/

It then traveled to Intramuros, a historic district in one of the northern Philippine islands, where it will stay for two months.

WTA Architecture and Design Studio

3/

Measuring 12 feet long by 8.5 wide, the steel library is tiny. One side of the Book Stop houses 800 books, while the other features a bench for people to sit and read, its architect, William Ti, tells Tech Insider.

WTA Architecture and Design Studio

4/

Beyond its small size, it operates differently than a normal library. For one, the Book Stop's collection constantly changes, because WTA encourages the library's visitors to leave a book when they take one out. It has about 150 new books every day.

WTA Architecture and Design Studio

5/

The project started with 360 books, but now it has over 2,000 books in stock — too many to fit on the shelves. For that reason, WTA will build four more Book Stops in the Philippines by 2017.

WTA Architecture and Design Studio

6/

The library also holds three events per week, like open mic nights ...

WTA Architecture and Design Studio

7/

... and "Blind Dates with a Book" days, when the books are all covered so you can't read the titles.

WTA Architecture and Design Studio

8/

The vision behind the Book Stop is to make libraries more accessible to the public.

WTA Architecture and Design Studio

9/

People are free to linger in the open-air library whenever it pops up in a city park.